The Nine Cauldrons
chapter-102

In the blink of an eye, Teng Qingshan and the others have arrived in Tielian Mountain for over a month.

As the sky darkened during evening, the torches in every area of the mining site were lit. Some areas had bonfires. A great number of guards and Black Armored Soldiers patrolled assiduously. Teng Qingshan himself was in the purple gold mining area. He stood outside a huge stone house.

This stone house was where Teng Qingshan had been staying on this Tielian Mountain.

"Chichi!" The bonfire roared.

Teng Qingshan gripped the Reincarnation Spear and stood beside the bonfire, immersing deeply in the thought of spear art.

If one is on the verge of death, he will fight to live! That is a concept of despair with a hint of hope…" Teng Qingshan pondered. During this time of over a month, he had disassembled the eighty-one techniques of the > and merged the moves. He found that the eighty-one techniques contained five concepts. And now, he had created four spear techniques.

The first technique—Silver Flower of the Flaming Tree! This was a very illusory and beautiful art. It could easily distract and confuse the opponent.

The second technique—Inflamed Passion! Teng Qingshan gave this technique a very inelegant name, but it was easily understood. The name showed that when the moves of this technique were used, it would unleash an explosive power, just like adding oil to fire.

The third technique—Flashing Fire! This was a very vicious technique. The moves of this technique are extremely fast and quiet.

The fourth technique—Wildfire Flames! This technique was a technique used during group attack. The performance of this technique would use up a lot of strength, but it would display an incredibly great force

And now, the fifth technique remained. The concept of the fifth technique was similar to sadness but slightly different at the same time.

"This isn't right!" Teng Qingshan exclaimed as he shook his head.

When he was creating the Silver Flower of the Flaming Tree, it will take him three days. But as he continued creating more techniques, the time spent became longer. Honestly, although the power of these techniques was incredible, they were no match against the Pursuing Shadows, the Transmutation Unity Qi, and Toxic Dragon Drill. After all, Teng Qingshan had studied the Five Element Fist for a long time in his previous life.

And he had spent over a dozen years in this life to create these three techniques.

The three techniques might seem simple, but they had already reached the Realm of Simplicity. They displayed a much greater and astonishing power.

However, Teng Qingshan had not been able to develop the Cannon Fist of the Five Element Fist Art into a spear technique. Teng Qingshan felt that as he disassembled and merged the >, his understanding of the fire element increased as well. He had a better image of the spear art he could create with the Cannon Fist.

In his previous life, the Tiger Cannon Fist was Teng Qingshan's best technique. A spear art developed from the Tiger Cannon Fist would be much more powerful than the Toxic Dragon Drill.

However, he must do it one step at a time.

He must first merge the > and create the fifth technique. If he couldn't do this, then he wouldn't be able to develop the 'Cannon Fist' into a spear art.

"The concept of sadness is different from the concept of being on the verge of death and fighting to live. This concept is…" Teng Qingshan pondered. Suddenly—

"Pa!"

Teng Qingshan turned and saw that the bonfire beside him had dimmed. Red sparks could be seen on the wood that had been burned for a long time and was occasionally bright and occasionally dim. Teng Qingshan grabbed the two pieces of dried wood and tossed it into the bonfire, causing the red sparks on the surface of the wood to ignite into flames.

"Eh?"

The instant the red sparks ignited into flames, Teng Qingshan was struck by a thought. His eyes lit up!

"Yes!"

Teng Qingshan hastily grabbed the Reincarnation Spear. He closed his eyes and grabbed the top of the spear with his right hand and grabbed the spear shaft with his left hand. He first pulled the spear shaft and pushed it forward. Teng Qingshan instilled inner strength into the Reincarnation Spear and immediately thrust the spearhead forward.

When the thrust was at its limit, the spearhead quivered.

Whew! Whew!

A visible powerful whirlpool could be seen on the spearhead.

"Yes, that's the feeling!" Teng Qingshan was elated. Immediately, he turned and thrust his spear towards a tree trunk at the side.

"Bang!"

The spearhead thrust into the tree trunk and a loud explosive noise sounded. A terrifying hole appeared on the enormous tree trunk. The crushed wood flew everywhere and the tree began trembling, as though it was going to fall at any time. The Black Armored Soldiers were frightened and immediately took precautions.

"Everyone, watch out. Don't get hit by the tree!" Teng Qingshan laughed and sent a flying kick. Immediately, the tree crashed in front of Teng Qingshan. The Black Armored Soldiers had already moved to the side.

"Lord, what a great spear art. I can't believe you knock down such a huge tree."

"Our Lord has the best spear art."

The soldiers praised.

Teng Qingshan felt great as he thought to himself, "My flying knife technique 'Saddened Knife' is a technique that allows me to remotely control a flying knife and make it explode. A moment ago, when I guided my inner strength with my mind and used it in coordination with my physical strength, a whirlpool of inner strength was created. An explosive force was unleashed! Hm, this technique shall be named 'Legacy of the Ultimate Flame'!"

Teng Qingshan was very satisfied technique.

Of the five techniques created through the >, the Legacy of the Ultimate Flame was the most powerful one.

"Unfortunately, the effect of this technique can only be achieved with inner strength. It cannot be done with just physical strength! However, with my inner strength, the power displayed was already considered very good." Teng Qingshan had a clearer vision of the spear art he could create with the Cannon Fist.

After over a month, he finally completed the creation of the five techniques.

At this moment, he was very happy. Immediately, he held the Reincarnation Spear and began patrolling around the purple gold mining area.

"Lord!"

"Lord!"

The patrolling Black Armored Soldiers immediately salute when they saw Teng Qingshan.

"Mm." Teng Qingshan nodded with a smile. He shot a glance at the mine cave and asked, "Has the mining today ended?"

"Yes, Lord." The workers in the mine have come out." The Black Armored Soldiers answered respectfully.

Teng Qingshan smiled and walked towards the mining tunnel. Some parts of the tunnel had been hollowed out, but there were still extremely deep tunnels in the cave. Teng Qingshan walked towards one of the mining tunnels. At this moment, the laborers were walking out of the tunnel, and they bowed when they saw Teng Qingshan.

The faces, hair, and body of these laborers were covered with dust. They looked very dirty.

"Er Gou, how much purple gold did you excavate?"

"Look! As big as my nail! This is the biggest gold I have dug this month! But we have to hand it over anyway. No matter how much we dig up, it's still wouldn't belong to us."

"Look at mine. This is the purple gold dug up by eight people."

Teng Qingshan glanced at the guy who was talking and saw that there was some crushed purple gold in the man's palm.

Seeing that, Teng Qingshan asked, "How did you get the purple gold dug up by the other seven people?"

"Lord." The man looked at Teng Qingshan and quickly bowed in fright. He then explained, "My brothers asked me to hand it over to the Black Armored Soldiers. This way, it will be more convenient as well."

"What is your name?" Teng Qingshan asked.

The man was slightly afraid as he answered, "My..my name is Wu Dagan!"

Teng Qingshan nodded. He glanced into the tunnels again and walked out of the mine cave. There were two Black Armored Soldiers sitting before the table near the mine cave, collecting the purple gold excavated by the miners, and keeping records of the amount of purple gold.

Teng Qingshan nodded and said, "According to the rules of Gui Yuan Sect, the laborers in the purple gold mining area are not allowed to interact with the miners in the other area. In addition, the rooms of these miners would be checked occasionally. Before the miners leave, they must take off all their clothes and shave their heads. They would be given a full set of new clothes, but they would have to leave naked. This was indeed to prevent people from stealing purple gold!"

The rules of the purple gold mining area were much stricter than the other four mining areas.

Stealing the purple gold was as difficult as reaching the heavens.

"Big Brother Gan, what did the Lord of that Black Armored Army say?" Some laborers asked Wu Dagan.

"Nothing much." Wu Dagan said and glanced at Teng Qingshan, who was afar. He then heaved a sigh of relief and thought to himself, "March 28 is the day after tomorrow! The crucial time is coming soon, I must be more careful not to provoke the Black Armored Soldiers! Otherwise, it would be bad if I ruined Big Brother's plan."

Wu Dagan immediately went back to his room.

...

Soon, it was March 28th.

According to the rules of the mining site, the laborers of the four gold mines could only go back to visit their families on the 28th of every month. They could only go back once a month! However, the laborers of the purple gold mine could only leave the mine once a year.

On the morning of that day, a light mist filled the air. The weather was very cool and the laborers were in a very good mood.

"I have been working day and night in this place. It's so tiring. I haven't been able to sleep well. I can finally go back now."

"Haha, you miss your wife, don't you?"

"Hehe, sleeping with your wife at home is definitely better than sleeping on the cold wooden bed."

The laborers chatted among themselves. They lined up and were waiting to go through a body search before they could leave the mining site.

"Don't be stupid, people! If you hid any gold, even if it was a tiny bit, you will be sentenced to death!" One of the officers shouted, "Check yourself before you go through the body search. Don't give others the chance to frame you. If we found any gold with you, any explanation would be useless."

The group of guards blocked the path and scrutinized the group of laborers. There were guards specially assigned to do the body search.

According to the rules, the body search of the laborers in the gold mines was done by ordinary guards.

However, the body search of the laborers for the purple gold mine was specially done by the Black Armored Soldiers.

At this moment, the black-beaded guy strode over.

"Lord!" The guards immediately saluted. The person that came was the leader of the guards of Huafeng City. His position was just lower than the city lord. Naturally, these guards really respected him.

"Mm." Hu Tong scanned the laborers who were lining up and immediately said to the guards, "Brothers, be careful. Check every one of them carefully. Don't miss anyone of them."

"Don't worry, Lord. They won't take away any gold." The officer immediately said as he tried to win Hu Tong's favor.

"Yes." Hu Tong nodded.

He scanned the surrounding. Suddenly, he saw a middle-aged guy, dressed in simple patched clothes, walking over from a distance of several Zhang away. Immediately, Hu Tong's eyes gleamed.